The semiconductor integrated circuit (IC) industry has experienced rapid growth in recent years. Technological advances in IC materials and design have produced various types of ICs that serve different purposes. The fabrication of some types of ICs may require forming a III-V compound layer on a substrate, for example forming a gallium nitride layer on a substrate. These types of IC devices may include, as examples, light-emitting diode (LED) devices, radio frequency (RF) devices, high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) devices, and high power semiconductor devices.
Traditionally, manufacturers have formed the III-V compound layer on a sapphire substrate. However, sapphire substrates are expensive. Thus, some manufacturers have been attempting to form III-V compound layers on a silicon substrate, which is cheaper. However, due to lattice constant mismatches between the III-V compound layer and the silicon substrate, existing methods of forming a III-V compound layer on a silicon substrate may result in wafer defects (e.g., cracking defects) or yield low quality III-V compound layers.
Therefore, while existing methods of forming III-V compound layers on silicon substrates have been generally adequate for their intended purposes, they have not been entirely satisfactory in every aspect. A method of growing high quality III-V compound layers on a silicon layer without defects such as cracking continues to be sought.